BOBA FETT IS DEAD: Killing the Beloved Bounty Hunter

Boba Fett is nothing if not persistent. Originally planned as just a background character, he fought his creator George Lucas’ intentions and became a cult favorite in Empire Strikes Back. In Return of the Jedi we saw him fall to his death inside the belly of the Sarlacc Pitt, but we later learned even that won’t stop him. But in a new Dark Horse comic series debuting this week, Boba Fett met his match when he was gunned down by a motley crew of the men he’s wronged over the years. With the epic space blasterslinger down and out, the story becomes this: who will get revenge for the fabled anti-hero.

Debuting this past Wednesday, Star Wars: Blood Ties – Boba Fett is Dead opened with the shocking scene of Fett lying lifeless with a baseball-sized hole in his chest and a group of men standing over him. With the news of his death circulating across the cosmos, it sets of a chain of events – and an unlikely avenger – to fill the gap Boba Fett’s death left.

Without spoiling this first issue and those that follow, Newsarama talked with series writer Tom Taylor about this western-esque Star Wars tale, the men responsible for Fett’s murder, and surprising source of his revenge.

Newsarama: It says it all in the title: "Boba Fett Is Dead". How did it happen, and where does that lead this story?

Tom Taylor: For starters, the most infamous bounty hunter in the galaxy isn’t the most universally-loved guy. Boba Fett probably doesn’t receive a lot of holocards on Valentines Day, he probably has a quiet one with the Sarlacc pit.

If you leave that many bodies behind and cause that much pain, eventually you’re going to find someone with the money and resources to take revenge, and that’s exactly how our story begins, not with a whimper but with a bang… a lot of bangs. Well, not ‘bangs’… blasters don’t go bang. More ‘Choom!’ ‘Choom!’‘Fwwooom’ and ‘Agghhh, I needed that limb!’ ‘Rrrrrrrnnnn… Thud!’

Nrama: Who is the person (or persons) that can claim responsibility for killing the universe’s #1 bounty hunter?

Taylor: I can’t tell you who is directly behind it, but I can tell you that Fett is taken out by an elite squad of killers from all over. No one group can be blamed for this. There are Stormtrooper commandos, a Zabrak soldier, a Dewback rider, a Rodian and a LOT of firepower. If it was anyone else, you’d call it overkill, for Fett, you’d call it just enough.

But revenge often breeds more revenge, and this is true of our story. At its heart, this is a story of revenge.

Nrama: Although his name is in the title, I can’t say Boba Fett can do a lot of walking around in this book with him being dead and all. Who’s the key figure in this story?

Taylor: This is a book with a bit of mystery to it and I don’t want to give away too much. However, Connor Freeman, the son of one of Jango’s clones is at the heart of this story. Connor’s father was actually assassinated by Jango and something about the child left behind, a child that could be his, led Jango to set up a trust for him. In the last Star Wars: Blood Ties series, Connor and Boba formed a strange alliance, and Connor is perhaps one of the only people in the galaxy to be sorry to see Fett go.

Nrama: For people who aren’t versed in the Star Wars comics and only know the series from the movies, what time period does this take place?

Taylor: No comment. Spoilers.

Nrama: OK, OK. I can ask you this though; In the Star Wars expanded universe we learned that Boba Fett had his own wife and kids. Will they play a role in this the way Boba followed in the footsteps of his father, Jango Fett?

Taylor: Fett’s wife and child are both pretty hardcore but they won’t be entering this in the same way Fett did with his father. This is because Fett and his family are, sadly, long estranged. There is not a lot of love between them anymore. This is why Connor is so central to this story. He really is one of the only people in the galaxy who cares for Boba at all.

Nrama: This brings me to my next question. Some of the people that have written Boba Fett in the past say that he’s a "western" type character in a futuristic setting. Seeing as this is about his death, is there an analogy to the western genre to be found –a revenge story?

Taylor: Absolutely. In fact, ours goes past a western analogy. A large part of our story takes place in a place called Concord Dawn, which is essentially frontier country. At one stage, a gang of Zabraks head out on a landspeeder to take down an actual homestead. It doesn’t get much more western than that.

So many westerns are about revenge and one man riding into town to deal out the punishment he feels is due. Instead of six shooters, our revenge story features blasters and thermal detonators and ion cannons, but it’s essentially the same thing. It just has less spurs and more enormous death-bringing explosions.

Nrama: Tom, you’ve written a number of Star Wars comics over the years, but tackling an assignment like this seems something even more special. What’s it like dealing with such an important event and its repercussions?

Taylor: I think every Star Wars book should be special to the writer. I think if you were to ask John Ostrander or John Jackson Miller or Jeremy Barlow or Randy Stradley or Haden Blackman or Dave Filoni or ANY of the fine people who are lucky enough to write in this galaxy, they’d tell you the same thing.

Anytime you’re invited to add to the mythos of such rich characters, it’s important.

I’m currently writing another series that sees the return of Darth Maul, and that’s very special. I still remember thinking he was the best part of the first movie and wishing he didn’t die. Back then, I certainly could never imagine I’d play a part in bringing him back and I don’t take this for granted. Writing the characters that you grew up idolizing, like Luke, Leia, Han, Yoda and Vader is very special.

With the first volume of Star Wars: Blood Ties - A Tale of Jango and Boba Fett, the incredible Chris Scalf and I created a book that received a bit of critical acclaim, including being nominated for the Stan Lee Excelsior Award in the UK. It’s a book we’re both very proud of and I hope this book can add to that.

Having said that, I can see that this is a big event. It has received a lot of attention. In fact, Daniel Logan (who plays Boba Fett in Star Wars: Episode IIand in the Clone Wars series) has been sending me mock death threats via Twitter and Facebook this morning. I don’t fear Fett coming after me on twitter though. The pen is mightier than the sword… and hopefully mightier than the mini concussion rocket launcher.

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